Episode 22  Lord Butler
by Veronica Marie
Summary: This is my version of episode 22 of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. Starts off fairly close to the episode, but it will contain some AU content. Please enjoy! Sentai World: Samurai Sentai Shinkenger Couple: Takeru & Kotoha
1. Chapter 1: A Proposal

Title: Lord Butler

Author: Veronica Marie

Chapter Rating: G

Spoilers: Episode 21, 22, and Kamen Rider Decade episodes 24&25.

Pairings: Takeru Shiba & Kotoha Hanaori

Summary: This is my version of episode 22 of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. Kotoha catches the eye of a young Bocchama. He asks Genta to ask her to pretend to be his fiancée in order to keep the gold-diggers away. Meanwhile, Doukoku unleashes a new monster that feeds on the feelings of affection of its victims.

**Chapter 1: A Proposal (of sorts)**

It was a beautiful afternoon in Japan, with a cloudless sky overhead and plants in bloom on the ground. Genta set up shop in a sparsely populated, yet beautiful, park and was awaiting the arrival of customers while talking animatedly to Ebi, also known as Ebizou, his lobster Origami. Ika, the squid Origami, floated beside Ebi in the small rectangular fish tank on Genta's sushi cart.

Genta leaned in towards the tank and smiled, obviously happy. "Ebizou, isn't it great that Ika-chan is back?" the young Sushi seller asked him enthusiastically. Ebizou's only response was to make some strange sounds, while 'Ika-chan' continued to float beside his lobster companion.

"Now we can do that thing I thought up." Genta continued and pushed himself away from the cart. Still smiling, he walked around the side of the cart and stated, "I'm sure the Gedoushuu will be surprised!" Clapping his hands together enthusiastically and striking a silly pose, he asked, "Shall we do a rehearsal?" He flipped open the Sushi Changer, his version of the Shodophone, and started typing in commands. While he was doing this, a black car pulls up in front of the beautiful array of pink flowers planted near the grey stone bench that Genta is facing. It is at this time that Genta notices the car and recognizes it as belonging to his most loyal customer.

A young man, around the same age as Kotoha and Chiaki, exits the car and walks toward Genta. He is dressed in a tweed jacket, nice grey slacks, and white shoes. He is obviously well off because the car he drives is a nice one and the clothes and shoes that he is wearing are well made, probably custom made to fit him to the best advantage.

Genta greets him enthusiastically and says, "Oh! Yoshibou! Welcome!" and leads him to the sushi cart. "Sit! Sit!" Genta commands good-naturedly and Yoshibou does as he's told. Genta himself takes his own place behind the counter, ready to take his most valued customer's order.

"I didn't come to eat today. Genta, I need a favor." Yoshibou said, as he sat down on one of the stools under the awning of the sushi cart. Genta, just smiles even more and enthusiastically asks, "what is it? Tell me!" Yoshibou, somewhat hesitant, but also hopeful says, "to be honest, I would like it if you could ask Kotoha-san to be my fiancée."

Genta's eyes widen in shock at the request and he shouts, "ehhhhhhhhhh?" Yoshibou cringes at the volume of Genta's response to his request before deciding it would be best to be clearer in his request. "There are many women that would like nothing more than to marry me because I'm so well off." Yoshibou says, the expression on his face says that he holds those women in contempt, but his voice suggests a deep sadness that he can't find a woman who would want him because she loved him. With a quiet sigh he looks straight at Genta and his expression turns determined as he says, "I want Kotoha to pretend to be my fiancée as a means of scaring those women away."

Seeing that Genta is obviously torn between helping him and his loyalty to Kotoha, Yoshibou decides to make one more plea. Bowing his head, he says, "please, Genta, ask Kotoha-san if she would be willing to do this favor for me."

Genta smiles and nods enthusiastically, "okay, will do. Leave it to me, Yoshibou!" Yoshibou smiles gratefully before saying goodbye and walking back to his car. Genta waved enthusiastically before beginning to make a list in his head of what will be needed to turn the sweet Kotoha into an 'oujo-sama'.

_**Genta's To-Do List (for those of you who actually want to know)**_

Go to a dress shop to pick out some suitable dresses for Kotoha to try on.

Get Kotoha to agree to be Yoshibou's fiancée. _That shouldn't be too difficult_, Genta thought with an affectionate smile. _Kotoha is such a sweet, helpful girl that it's very unlikely that she would say no in the first place._

Ask the others to help him train Kotoha in the ways of being a lady. _On second thought, I should probably only ask Mako and Ryunosuke since they seem the types who would know something about fashion and etiquette. It would also be a good idea to have Take-chan's and Jii-san's input since they also know something about etiquette_, Genta mused to himself. Genta laughed, imagining Takeru's face when he let him in on the scheme. _Too funny. Way too funny._

Find out the rest of the particulars from Yoshibou-san. Genta slapped himself in the forehead, remembering a little too late that he had neglected to get the required information from him when they were speaking beforehand.

With a careless shrug and a smile, Genta started packing up his sushi cart, deciding that there was no time like the present to get his tasks done.

To be continued….


	2. Chapter 2: Training Menu

Title: Lord Butler

Author: Veronica Marie

Chapter Rating: G

Spoilers: none

Pairings: Takeru Shiba & Kotoha Hanaori

Summary: This is my version of episode 22 of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. Kotoha catches the eye of a young Bocchama. He asks Genta to ask her to pretend to be his fiancée in order to keep the gold-diggers away. Meanwhile, Doukoku unleashes a new monster that feeds on the feelings of affection of its victims.

**Chapter 2: Training Menu**

Later that night, Takeru sat Indian style on the dais with an impassive look on his face. Kotoha knelt in front of him with her head bowed, looking at the sheaf of papers that he had handed to her. She looked up at him, a worried frown marring her pretty features, and met his gaze. Seeing the anxious look in Kotoha's eyes, he nodded his head and the barest hint of an encouraging smile touched his lips. It was the training menu, and Takeru had decided that Kotoha should try her hand at picking the next training regimen for the Shinkengers.

"No, I can't. I couldn't possibly think of the training menu." She stated, clearly distressed.

"Just pick what you want. Try it," Takeru insisted, in a not unkind tone of voice. He knew it wouldn't be easy to convince her to do this, but he was determined to help her grow into her own as ShinkenYellow.

She looked up at him with pleading eyes and began to speak. "But," she began, and looked down at the papers in her hands, "um". She looked back up at him and asked, "What would you like to do, Tono-sama?"

Takeru looked at her with the faintest bit of amusement and affection in his eyes. "I told you, it's not what I want to do. Just pick what you want," he stated, only a little bit put out that she was being so stubborn in her refusal.

"Eh?" She asked, unused to being asked for her opinion or input, in well, anything.

Before Takeru could say anything more, Genta came bounding into the room, his arms full of dresses of assorted styles and colors.

"Kotoha-chan!" Genta exclaimed, happy to find her in the room with Takeru. It was like killing two birds with one stone. He'd be able to talk to both of them at once and that meant he'd have one less person to look for later. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Kotoha-chan!" He came bounding up to her, completely ignoring Takeru's presence in the room, which no doubt annoyed Takeru, his supposed best friend. Kotoha got up and took a step back away from the smiling ShinkenGold.

"I wonder if this suits you." Genta said, more to himself than her as he began to pull one of the dresses from the pile of dresses resting in the crook of his right arm. Pausing mid pull, Genta turned to face Takeru before shoving him to the side to make room on the dais for the dresses.

"Hey!" Takeru exclaimed, annoyed at being shoved. He fell back on his hands and his right leg dangled over the edge of the dais, while his left leg was pulled forward up towards his stomach. Genta ignored his outburst and picked up a beautiful red dress from the pile of dresses before turning to face Kotoha and dangling it in front of her to see if the style and color would be okay on her.

"What is this?" she asked anxiously, as she looked first at the dress and then at the young man holding the dress in front of her. Still smiling, Genta nodded, obviously pleased with at least one of his dress selections.

"What is this all of a sudden?" Takeru asked, still in the same position as before. He was completely in the dark, just like Kotoha. Genta turned to face him and walked back to the dais to put down one dress before picking up another one, this time it was a pretty white one. He walked back to Kotoha to dangle this one before her as well. While he did this, he began to explain exactly what was going on.

"To be honest, my number one regular customer is a bocchama, the son of a rich family." He walked back to the dais, picked up a lavender dress. Turning to face her, he decided now would be the best time to drop the bombshell, so to speak.

"I'd like you to be his fiancée, Kotoha-chan." He said, as he walked back to her and dangled the pretty lavender dress in front of her from its straps.

The response was immediate, from both Takeru and Kotoha. "Fiancée?" Takeru exclaimed, dark eyes widening in shock. While all Kotoha could do was say, "eh?" and smile, not exactly sure how she should respond. Genta grinned and nodded. Getting over the initial shock first, Takeru schooled his features into a look of indifference, though on the inside he was anything but calm.

_What are you getting her into, you idiot?_ Takeru thought with a scowl as yet another dress was added to either the discard or keep pile.

"Yoshibou has many women after him, but all they want him for is his title, looks, money-or all three. Not himself." Genta stated with a hint of sympathy slipping into his tone. His smile faltered and he stared directly into Kotoha's sympathetic eyes. "You remember meeting him, right, Kotoha-chan?" he asked. Kotoha smiled and nodded, "yes, I do. He was very nice."

Takeru continued listening, silently, while he watched what was going on between Genta and Kotoha. He felt a twinge of something, he wasn't sure what, when she said that this bocchama, Yoshibou, was 'nice'. _What exactly does that mean anyway?_ he mused to himself. He managed to listen with half attention to what Genta was saying and what he said next perked his interest so much that he left the question unanswered. For now.

"He wants you to pretend to be his fiancée to keep the gold-diggers away. There's going to be some sort of gathering this coming Saturday, that's three days from now and that's when he's going to announce your engagement."

Pretty much this whole, excluding her answering his question and her initial response to the news, Kotoha had remained still and silent. She had initially smiled uneasily at the news, thinking perhaps this was some kind of joke. But apparently not, and after hearing the reasoning behind Yoshibou's request, how could she honestly say no?

Kotoha clutched some of the bottom her pretty yellow blouse in her fists, a nervous habit, and bowed head as she thought over her options. Honestly, she just wanted to look up, meet eyes with Takeru and cry out, "what should I do, Tono-sama?" But she thought better of that because of what they were talking about before. With a sinking heart, she realized that she was the only one who could make the decision. _But what if I'm wrong?_ She thought to herself, full of uncertainty.

All while she was in her thoughts, both Takeru and Genta watched as emotions played across her face. Both young men could see how troubled she was, but neither one knew exactly what do to alleviate her fears. Genta was distressed that she was distressed, but he also felt for Yoshibou. While Takeru was completely focused on Kotoha and how lost she looked. He frowned and tried to think of something that would make her feel more comfortable and possibly help her gain some confidence in herself as a human being as well as Shinken Yellow. _Will this fake engagement help with that_? he asked himself and not sure of the answer one way or another.

After what seemed like forever, but in actuality it was only five minutes, she stopped clutching at her blouse and looked up with a sweet smile on her face. At the sight of her sunny smile, Takeru could have sworn his heart skipped a beat and he had to fight to keep from either blushing or turning away from the sight.

"I'll do it," she said, looking up into Genta's eyes. He smiled at her, his cheerfulness back to 110% power, and laughed. "Yes!" he exclaimed, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze before he whirled to face Takeru. "Take-chan, can you have the kuroko's summon Mako, Ryunosuke, and Chiaki here? We have a job to do. Operation: transform Kotoha-chan into an Oujo-sama. We're going to need their help."

With a resigned sigh, Takeru nodded and rang the bell to summon some kuroko to find the other Shinkengers.


	3. Chapter 3: Making Plans

Title: Lord Butler  
Author: Veronica  
Chapter Rating: G  
Spoilers: none  
Pairings: Takeru Shiba & Kotoha Hanaori  
Summary: This is my version of episode 22 of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. Kotoha catches the eye of a young Bocchama and he asks Genta to ask her to pretend to be his fiancée in order to keep the gold-diggers away. Meanwhile, Doukoku unleashes a new monster that feeds on the affectionate feelings of its victims.

Chapter 3: Making Plans

The moment the three of them stepped into the room they could sense that something was wrong. By now Takeru was resituated on the dais and had a growing pile of dresses on either side of him. He didn't look pleased, in fact, he was staring daggers at the back of Genta's head. Genta ignored Takeru's glare, which was easy to do considering he had his back to him, and concentrated on Kotoha and the dresses instead. Genta smiled when they entered the room and greeted them with a nod of his head, before focusing on Kotoha once more. He dangled a lovely lavender dress by its dainty straps in front of Kotoha to test the color against her skin tone, while the three Shinkengers eyed their comrade warily.

"What the heck are you up to, Gen-chan!" Chiaki exclaimed, as Genta tossed that dress behind him and picked up an entirely different one. He held it in front of Kotoha by its little ribbons that would, in other circumstances, hold it on a hanger in a closet. He furrowed his brow and angled his head to one side. He envisioned the lovely deep red strapless dress on Kotoha's petite figure before shaking his head and carelessly tossing that one behind him as well. Takeru barely caught it before it touched the ground and continued glaring at his best friend before dropping the dress in the 'not' pile on the right side of him.

When Genta answered Chiaki's question it was to exuberantly retell the story of his meeting with Yoshibou. He also told them Kotoha's part in the plan. While he did this, Kotoha continued to stand with her back facing them and feeling completely out of her element and at the mercy of Genta, who apparently couldn't tell just how uncomfortable she was with the whole ordeal.

Once Genta finished his story there was complete silence. Well, for maybe about the time it takes between two heartbeats.

"Eh!" Mako's eyes widened in shocked disbelief and stood in her spot with arms folded across her chest. She shook her head and glared at him, "no, absolutely not! You are not putting Kotoha in that situation!" She exclaimed.

At her sharp words, Genta dropped the dress in his hands and it fell to the floor in an undignified heap on the floor. Genta cringed, _Mako is scary_, he thought as he looked into her dark, angry eyes. A lesser man probably would have hidden behind the dress in his hands when confronted by the dark eyed, vengeful woman. But that isn't Genta's style, nope, not at all. He did, however, make sure that he had Kotoha in front of him so that Mako couldn't lunge at him like the look in her eyes suggested that she would like to. One word: coward.

"Gen-chan," Ryunosuke said reproachfully, clearly disappointed in him. There wasn't really much more he could say anyway. Honestly, he sort of felt bad for Genta under the circumstances especially with the aura of malice that Mako was currently giving off.

As for Chiaki, well, he just glared at Genta before sighing in frustration and focusing his attention on Kotoha who stood with her back facing them, clearly tense because of the stressful atmosphere around her. "Kotoha, are you really okay with this?" He asked the young Shinken Yellow, knowing that Genta probably hadn't even thought to ask her properly in the first place.

Kotoha felt the anxiety seep away at the kind, intuitive question from Chiaki and turned her head to give Chiaki a bright, brave smile. "I'll be okay, Chiaki. I want to help Yoshibou-san. I can't imagine what that must be like for him," She answered quietly and then turned back to face Takeru. "Is it okay with you, Tono-sama?" she asked Takeru, her brown eyes pleading with him to say that he was okay with it and that he wouldn't disagree. She genuinely wanted to help Yoshibou, but she also didn't want to be at odds with her respected Tono-sama.

She needn't have worried about being at odds with him though. One look at her pleading expression and Takeru was a goner. If she asked him to go into a haunted house with her at an amusement park he'd swallow his fear and go along with her because when it came right down to it, he couldn't say no to Kotoha.

Takeru heaved an inward sigh and thought to himself, grimly, _I really need to work on rebuilding my walls. It would do no good to be weak, especially at this time. _Her decision to go along with Yoshibou and Genta's scheme wasn't completely unexpected though. Somehow he knew that in the end Kotoha's sweet nature would persuade her to give in and do this favor for Yoshibou.

With nothing left to do, Takeru nodded his consent and was rewarded by a bright smile from Kotoha and Genta's enthusiastic, "Thanks, Take-chan!" His enthusiasm was dampened a moment later by the voice of reason aka Mako as she exclaimed, "Not so fast, Genta!"

Kotoha stiffened again at the sound of Mako's annoyed tone and turned her head to the right to watch Mako's progress as she stalked with righteous fury toward Genta.

Genta's eyes widened comically as Mako stopped briefly in front of him and raised her eyes to glare at him before snatching yet another one of his dress choices from his hands and toss it to the 'not' pile. She folded her arms across her chest and shook her head in disappointment. "If Kotoha is going to do this, she's doing it right." She looked briefly at the two piles with disgust before softening her gaze and speaking sweetly to Kotoha, "come on, Kotoha, we're going shopping."

Chiaki and Ryunosuke almost fell over in surprise and it took Genta a moment to realize that she wasn't going to hit him. When he realized this, a relieved look crossed his face before he smiled brightly. As for Takeru, well, he shook his head and smacked his head against his palm. _Mako/Mako-chan is scary_, was the unanimous thought going through the heads of all for men in the room. Kotoha just smiled happily at the thought of going shopping with her best friend.

After that was settled, Genta was able to convince Ryunosuke to teach Kotoha etiquette and how to dance. Kotoha gave Ryunosuke an apologetic smile in advance, knowing that she would most likely step on his toes at least once, if not more. Ryunosuke gave her an encouraging smile even knowing with absolute certainty that she probably would end up stepping on his toes. As for Mako, she obviously appointed herself as Kotoha's personal shopper and make-up artist. She also looked to Chiaki to be their bag carrier on the shopping expedition. And of course, Genta looked to Takeru to foot the bill for the dress and accessories that would be necessary to convince the other people at Yoshibou's gathering that Kotoha was an affluent young lady worthy of Yoshibou.

_This is going to be a long three days_, Takeru thought grimly later that night as he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4: Shopping Trip

Title: Lord Butler  
Author: Veronica  
Chapter Rating: G  
Spoilers: none  
Pairings: Takeru Shiba & Kotoha Hanaori

Warning: There is a little bit of Chiaki/Kotoha interaction in this one that COULD, and probably WILL, be misconstrued…but never fear, this story is a strictly TakeKo (Takeru/Kotoha) shippy fic.

Summary: This is my version of episode 22 of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. Kotoha catches the eye of a young Bocchama and he asks Genta to ask her to pretend to be his fiancée in order to keep the gold-diggers away. Meanwhile, Doukoku unleashes a new monster that feeds on the affectionate feelings of its victims.

Chapter 4: Shopping Trip

_**The next morning…**_

The next morning dawned bright and beautiful. The Shinkengers went through their usual routine of practicing their Mojikara and fighting techniques from five in the morning to 12 in the afternoon before they decided to break for lunch.

It had been decided the previous evening that after their morning routines were completed that Mako, Kotoha, and Chiaki would go shopping for a dress and accessories for Kotoha to wear before returning to do more training and then waltzing and etiquette lessons with Ryunosuke in the evening before dinner.

The three Shinkengers headed out at shortly after twelve for their shopping expedition. Mako lead the trio to a high end dress shop in the closest mall and proceeded to have Kotoha try on various dresses. Some were in shades of yellow, while others were in other colors like blue, red, green, pink or purple.

While Kotoha tried one dress on after another, Mako looked through other racks of dresses trying to find any other dresses that she thought were perfect for Kotoha. Chiaki was tasked with the annoying task of being Mako's dress rack. When she found something she thought looked pretty, she tossed it at him, not really minding whether it landed on his head or on his arm.

When onlookers, most teenaged girls and girls in their early twenties saw how Mako treated him, they were torn between giggling at the cuteness of a young man subjecting himself to his girlfriend's whims, or pitying him because he really did look uncomfortable with all those dresses piling up in his arms and draped over his shoulders. Chiaki bristled and blushed in annoyance at the sound of girlish giggles coming from the girls that passed by. With a determined look on his face he nodded and muttered his new mantra through gritted teeth, "this is for Kotoha so you CAN bear with it, Chiaki!"

Once Mako was finished with torturing Chiaki, i.e. using him as a dress rack and making him a laughingstock, the two of them headed back where the girls fitting rooms were.

"Kotoha, I have some more dresses for you to try on!" Mako called out, as she relieved Chiaki of some of his burden. Kotoha opened the door to her fitting room and shyly stepped out where Mako and Chiaki. She clasped her hands in front of her and smiled shyly at them. "What do you think, Mako-chan? Chiaki?" She asked softly, showing off the dress that she felt was THE ONE after trying on more than a dozen dresses.

Mako dropped the dresses in her arms on the floor in surprise and smiled approvingly, while Chiaki just dropped the rest of the dresses in his arms with a shocked expression on his face. Kotoha looked so pretty!

The dress was a knee length off white dress with little designs in various colors on it and it definitely was made for Kotoha. It bespoke of innocence and quiet warmth that were so a part of who she is.

Mako caught the slack jawed expression on Chiaki's face out of the corner of her eye and her approving smile turned teasing at the sight of him being speechless. "You may want to pick your jaw off the floor, Chiaki," Mako teased him. With those words Chiaki came back to himself and was about to respond negatively when Kotoha's voice stopped him.

"Chiaki, do I look alright?" Kotoha asked anxiously. When she saw his shocked expression she immediately thought that he was reacting negatively to how she looked in the dress. She'd never worn anything like this, so she was uncertain how the others would react to her dressed in such a way.

Chiaki turned to face her and smiled as he gave her a thumbs up sign and said, "you look really pretty, Kotoha. I was just surprised, that's all."

Mako nodded and added her own words of encouragement as well. "You look really cute and pretty, Kotoha." Mako said with an encouraging smile. Kotoha returned her comrades smiles with one of her own, her confidence restored.

"Now we just need to find shoes, a pretty handbag, and a hairclip of some sort to compliment the dress. Oh and we should definitely get some cosmetics, too!" Mako said, gleefully. Chiaki groaned.

_Seriously, girls and shopping are a scary combination,_ he thought with a visible shudder.

Kotoha, noticing his shudder, asked with a concerned frown marring her pretty features, "are you okay, Chiaki?"

Chiaki shook his head and gave her a cryptic reply, "you wouldn't understand, Kotoha. You really wouldn't."

Kotoha exchanged confused glances with Mako and the two girls shrugged. After that, Kotoha went back into the changing room and changed back into her clothes. When she came out again she had the pretty dress draped over one arm and the rest of the discards, about seven different dresses, draped over the other. Mako and Chiaki picked up the dresses they had dropped before and the three of them headed to the register to purchase the dress and hand the cashier the other dresses that hadn't been chosen, including the ones Mako had just picked up off the racks.

Ten minutes later they had paid for the dress and headed to the other departments to pick out shoes, handbag and hairclip. Once that was done, Chiaki found a place to just sit back and relax while Mako and Kotoha looked at cosmetics. On a whim, Mako suggested that the two girls get makeovers at the cosmetics counter.

Both girls were smiling when they walked up to Chiaki fifteen minutes later. "Chiaki, we're done." Mako said by way of a greeting with Kotoha trailing behind her. Chiaki stood up without looking at them from where he had just been lazily sitting on one of the chairs near an exit to the store. "It is about time, nee-" He started to respond before he looked up from his sneakers only to stare at the two girls before him.

In a word, the girls looked…_different_. Not in a bad way though. Chiaki was used to seeing both of the girls wear minimal make up, probably just lip gloss in Kotoha's case, while Mako might actually usually wear blush along with the lip gloss. But the girls before him, well, they were really made over, makeup-wise. The makeup was subtle, yes, but not so subtle that you'd be able to miss it.

Kotoha's lips were a cherry red, while the makeup artist decided to use a soft pink blush on her cheeks and used eyeliner, sparingly, to make her eyes appear larger and darker than usual. The difference between Kotoha with just lip gloss and Kotoha with blush, cherry red lip gloss, and eyeliner was as different as night and day.

As for Mako, her lipstick was closer to a soft burgundy than cherry, but otherwise it was pretty much the same effect. Both girls looked more like models for a teen make up ad than the butt-kicking Shinkengers they are.

Chiaki shook his head and exclaimed, "what the heck, nee-san?!" He really couldn't help it if his protective instincts were kicking in. He was a guy after all and he could just imagine the reactions of the guys they would have to pass on the streets on their way home. He would definitely have his work cut out for him.

Mako glared in annoyance at Chiaki, while Kotoha looked hurt and confused. Mako noticed Kotoha's hurt expression and patted her comfortingly on the shoulder before shooting Chiaki another dirty look. She took Kotoha by the hand, snatched the bags from Chiaki's grasp, and headed out of the shop. Chiaki ran a hand through his hair in frustration and turned on his heel to catch up with them outside.

He was able to catch up with them pretty quickly, but kept a safe distance from Mako just in case she decided to smack him or something. They walked in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, just taking in the sights around them, before Chiaki decided to break the silence.

"I'm sorry, Kotoha. I'm sorry, Mako. You both look just so…different," Chiaki said. A moment later he realized that the word 'different' could be misconstrued so he hastily added, "in a good way." _Safe! _He thought in relief, just as he saw out of the corner of his eye that Mako had been about to yell at him only to change her mind once she heard his addendum.

"Thank you, Chiaki, that's really kind of you," Kotoha responded with a shy smile flashed in his direction.

While Kotoha's response was heartfelt, Mako's was more teasing than anything else.

"Nice save, Chiaki. You'll make some girl a wonderful boyfriend someday." Mako responded with a teasing smile and a gentle nudge of his shoulder with hers.

"You're welcome, Kotoha." He said to Kotoha with a smile and chose to ignore Mako's comment altogether. Sometimes silence is just the best way to go.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Yes! Two chapters posted and I'm not sure how many to go. Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and story alerts. I hope you enjoy the two recent chapters as much as I enjoyed writing them. Here's a hint about chapter 5: It still takes place during Day 1 and it'll continue, sort of, where we left off in this chapter and will feature Ryu-baka teaching our favorite ShinkenYellow how to dance. Oooh that should be fun, right? ^_^ Stay tuned and I hope to have more chapters posted during the upcoming week. - Veronica


	5. Chapter 5: Dance, Dance Revolution

Title: Lord Butler  
Author: Veronica  
Chapter Rating: G  
Spoilers: none  
Pairings: Takeru Shiba & Kotoha Hanaori

Summary: This is my version of episode 22 of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. Kotoha catches the eye of a young Bocchama and he asks Genta to ask her to pretend to be his fiancée in order to keep the gold-diggers away. Meanwhile, Doukoku unleashes a new monster that feeds on the affectionate feelings of its victims.

**Special Dedication:** This chapter, such as it is, is dedicated to the reviewers. Thank you so much for your continued kindness, patience, and support in the form of reviews. I will try to get chapters posted more often in this New Year because I really would love to get this story completed.

Chapter 5: Dance, Dance Revolution

Kotoha sat on a rock near the Shiba Clan Mansion and began to play her flute in the hopes of finding some relief from her distress.

Her first dance lesson hadn't gone well. She'd tried her hardest, but the waltz was something that required grace and timing, neither one of those were her strong suit. Sure, in a sword battle she was quick at being able to block some attacks, but her movements weren't graceful. At least to her way of thinking. Of course, it hadn't helped that Genta and the others were watching the practice between her and Ryunosuke. She was used to laughing and the whispers, but it was different when it was from people she thought of as friends. It hurt more.

Even now as she played she could remember the final time they'd practice the dance only a half an hour ago and it still stung.

"_**One, two, three…" Ryunosuke said as he led Kotoha through the waltz steps in time to the music coming from the boom box that they'd borrowed from Chiaki just for this occasion.**_

_**When they had first started the dance lessons after Kotoha and Mako had come back from their shopping trip, the lessons had been painful, mostly for Ryunosuke whose toes were stepped on more than once. Eventually though, it was at least less frequent to the point where it hadn't occurred in the last half hour or so. **_

_**Ryunosuke was in his element having studied dance for most of his life. It, and kabuki, is his greatest joys so he was very happy to share his love for dance with one of his comrades, even if it was the one most likely to send him to the hospital for broken toes. But as they danced now, the memory of the last ten or so times of Kotoha stepping on his toes faded from his memory and Ryunosuke lost himself in the music.**_

_**One, two, three…**_

_**One, two, three…**_

_**One, two, three…**_

_**Crunch!**_

_**Ryunosuke was awoken from his music induced trance to the feel of pain in his toes. Kotoha pulled away and clasped her hands tightly together as she looked down at her feet, feeling miserable. **_

"_**I'm so sorry, Ryu-san." Kotoha said quietly. **_

"_**Hey, Kotoha," Ryunosuke said and Kotoha looked up at him with troubled eyes. He reseted his hands on her shoulders and smiled encouragingly. "It'll be okay. You're doing well. Let's go back to practicing, okay?" **_

_**Kotoha smiled and nodded. They got into position and started going through the steps once more.**_

_**While they were practicing, Chiaki and the other four Shinkenger's were peeking into the room from the hallway and watching the two of them as they danced. **_

_**Genta smiled and said quietly, "the practice is going better than expected."**_

_**Crunch! Went Ryunosuke's toes. **_

_**The four of them winced, but the sympathetic gesture was ruined by Chiaki's muffled snickers. **_

"_**You jinxed them, Gen-chan," Chiaki said, while still snickering. **_

_**Mako glared at Chiaki for snickering in the first place. **_

"_**It isn't funny, Chiaki. Kotoha was doing really well up until a few minutes ago when Ryunosuke stopped counting beats because he went into his own little world," Mako chastised him.**_

_**Ryunosuke paused in the dance and looked over at them to give them a disapproving look before focusing his attention back on his partner in the waltz.**_

_**He stepped back from Kotoha and she dropped her hands to her sides with an apologetic smile.**_

"_**I'm sorry, Ryu-san," Kotoha apologized, feeling bad for losing her focus and stepping on his toes so much. "Maybe we could take a break?" she asked. **_

_**Ryunosuke gave her a reassuring smile and rested his hands on her shoulders and said, "I'm okay, Kotoha. A break sounds good. " **_

_**Kotoha headed to the boom box and shut it off before heading out of the room. The group of four dispersed, heading to different destinations, leaving Ryunosuke alone to care for his poor, abused toes.**_

_I really thought I was making progress_, Kotoha thought glumly as she continued to play. _But just when I think I'm doing okay, I lose focus and poor Ryu-san gets his toes smashed. I'm such a klutz._

While Kotoha played her flute, she was unaware of Takeru watching her from his spot near the door that lead outside to where she was playing. He'd come out looking for her to let her know that Ryunosuke was ready to start the next lesson with her.

_Do I interrupt her or do I wait for her to notice me? _Takeru thought, as he watched Kotoha play.

The choice was made for him when Kotoha stopped playing and put her flute back in its place. She turned to find Takeru standing in the doorway and smiled at him in greeting.

"Tono-sama! Did Ryu-san ask you to come and get me? Is it time to practice some more already?" Kotoha asked, as she headed in his direction.

The only response she got was a nod from Takeru before he turned and headed back inside the mansion, leaving Kotoha behind. Kotoha frowned in dismay.

_Did I do something wrong?_ She wondered as she made her way back inside the mansion and into the room where Ryunosuke was waiting for her. He smiled in greeting.

"Are you ready to practice some more, Kotoha?" Ryunosuke asked.

She nodded and smiled. "I'll do my best!"

Later that night when all the others were sleeping, Kotoha crept from her bed with her mp3player in hand and headed outside to practice. When she'd said she would do her best, she'd meant it and at that moment she had promised herself to practice diligently for the next two days, even at night, so that she wouldn't be a disgrace to Ryunosuke's teachings.

Once she was outside, with only some lanterns lit and the moon to light her path, she put her ear buds in her ears, got into waltz position, and pressed play on her mp3 player before going through the steps as she'd learned them earlier in the day. It was difficult at first because it was different to be dancing by oneself to waltz music than when you have a good dancing partner like Ryunosuke, or any partner for that matter, but she was successful.

She would continue to do this nightly practice for the next two nights before anyone would know anything about it.

To be continued…

Authors note: Well, chapter 5 is completed and I'm working on chapter 6. I think I've set myself up nicely for some actual Takeru & Kotoha shippiness in the next chapter. *hint hint* Oh, and I will be explaining, sort of, why Takeru reacted the way he did near the end of this chapter. Hint: Kotoha is still looking VERY pretty all dressed up after her makeover. *grins*


	6. Chapter 6: Night Waltz

Title: Lord Butler  
Author: Veronica  
Chapter Rating: G  
Spoilers: mentions of some stuff that happened in episodes 4 and 20.  
Pairings: Takeru Shiba & Kotoha Hanaori

Summary: This is my version of episode 22 of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. Kotoha catches the eye of a young Bocchama and he asks Genta to ask her to pretend to be his fiancée in order to keep the gold-diggers away. Meanwhile, Doukoku unleashes a new monster that feeds on the affectionate feelings of its victims.

Chapter 6: Night Waltz

Kotoha was as good as her promise to herself over the next two days. She had been practicing dancing both day (when she wasn't learning about etiquette and such from Mako) and night, and it was paying off. The six Shinkenger's gathered for breakfast this last day before the gathering at Yoshibou's home where Kotoha would be introduced as Yoshibou's fiancée.

"Are you ready for your final lessons today, Kotoha?" Ryuunosuke asked at the breakfast table that morning.

Kotoha nodded and smiled, "yes, sensei," as the kuroko set about serving them their breakfast.

Her response to Ryuunosuke's question garnered laughs from those gathered around the table, with the exception of Takeru of course, he turned his face away from them and feigned a cough to hide his amused smile. While Ryuunosuke just smiled in pleasure at being called "sensei".

Getting over their amusement, they said their usual grace and ate their breakfast quickly because besides Kotoha having her dance and etiquette lessons, there were their usual sparring lessons as well.

Takeru cleared his throat and looked directly at Kotoha as he said, "You never did choose something from the training menu, Kotoha."

Kotoha froze and the others looked between the youngest vassal and Takeru, curious.

Kotoha balled her hands up into the bottom of her yellow fluffy robe, anxiously, before meeting his eyes.

"I-I still don't know what to choose, Tono-sama." She answered honestly. "I'm not used to having to make a decision like that."

Takeru nodded in understanding, and his emotionless façade melted somewhat into a gentle smile. The other five Shinkengers blinked, and it was like the smile was never there in the first place.

"Take your time, Kotoha. I know you'll choose wisely." He said, as he focused his attention once more on the food in front of him.

Kotoha smiled brightly in gratitude, "Thank you, Tono-sama."

Pretty soon breakfast was finished and the kurokos cleared away the dishes before bowing to Takeru and leaving the room. The Shinkengers each went to their own room shortly after that to get dressed in training attire.

Ten minutes later, sparring practice commenced outside in the training area. Takeru pitted himself against Ryuunosuke. While Chiaki and Kotoha trained together, as was their usual practice. Genta and Mako both decided that they would train with who ever won the matches.

Clash! Clash! Clash! Wood met wood as the Shinkengers trained in earnest.

Takeru and Ryuunosuke were pretty evenly matched, having both trained in the way of the Samurai since they were young children. But finally, with a final downward slash of his staff, Takeru was the victor.

From their spots on the porch, Genta stopped Mako from going to spar with Takeru.

"I've got this, Mako-chan." He said with a grin.

Mako nodded, "okay, I understand."

Genta got into position in front of Takeru and the two combatants bowed to each other before beginning to spar.

Meanwhile, with Chiaki and Kotoha, the two were still sparring-or more like, sparring for the third time. Chiaki had won the first two sparring matches, but this third one was not to be his.

"Oof!"

Chiaki landed on the ground with a thud and Kotoha stood over him, distressed at the sight of Chiaki wincing.

"Are you okay, Chiaki?" Kotoha offered her hand to him, but he just lightly tapped his training staff against her hand to push it away and got up by himself. He smiled, determined.

"I'm okay, Kotoha. Let's try this again." He said as he got into a defensive position.

She nodded with a smile and got into position herself and the two began sparring again.

Clash! Clash!

Mako watched with a smile as the two of them fought. Chiaki was getting better at fighting as well as being a better loser in these sparring matches, that much was certain. Or maybe it was just with Kotoha because she didn't lecture him about what he does wrong in the fight.

Clash! Clash! Clash!

"Oof!"

He went down again.

"Okay, I think I'm done," he said as he got up and dusted himself off. He turned to face Mako and said, "Hey, ni-san, come spar with Kotoha."

Mako nodded and smiled before picking up her staff and heading to the training area, just as he passed by her on his way to the porch for a much needed rest.

The two girls got into position and began to spar.

Mako out of the two girls was the better swordswoman, but Kotoha had two things that Mako didn't, adaptability and imagination.

Clash! Block. Clash! Block. Clash! Parry. Clash!

They were at an impasse.

Neither one would give in to the other so it was a tie. The two girls bowed to each other and exchanged smiles.

Pretty soon after that the whole group dispersed, each heading to their own room to clean up. Ryuunosuke and Kotoha were the last two leave the training area. Kotoha was putting away her staff when Ryuunosuke walked over to where she was putting it away.

"Meet you for practice in a few minutes, right?" he asked.

Kotoha smiled and nodded, "yes, of course, Ryuu-san."

Satisfied with her answer, he turned away and headed inside the house, leaving her to make her own way inside.

_**An hour later…**_

Kotoha tried her best focus and was finally able to succeed in NOT crushing Ryuunosuke's toes, as often at least. She was able to tune everything out but the sound of Ryuunosuke saying, "one, two, three…" and the music. Everything else just faded into the background and they waltzed. Kotoha smiled her brightest smile, elated that she was actually waltzing before a happy laugh escaped her throat. She was so happy!

"You're getting better, Kotoha," Ryuunosuke complimented her. In fact, in the last two days he had seen a change from her first day of lessons where she had made quite a few blunders.

Kotoha smiled bashfully and said, "It's all thanks to Ryuu-san's lessons."

Ryuunosuke grinned happily. "I was glad to be of assistance. You can ask me for help any time, Kotoha, and I'll be willing to help. That's what comrades are for!" He said enthusiastically.

Mako and Chiaki both rolled their eyes.

"Don't encourage him, Kotoha!" Chiaki said, "He's got a big enough head as it is."

"Oi, that's uncalled for, Chiaki." Ryuunosuke said, clearly offended.

"Chiaki's right, Kotoha, don't encourage him otherwise he'll get weird ideas." Mako put in her two cents worth of advice.

"What are you two doing here anyway?" Ryuunosuke asked, even more annoyed with that last comment of Mako's. Was it his fault he'd misinterpreted her kindness before?

_Yeesh, Mako-san is scary_, Ryuunosuke thought to himself.

"Well," Chiaki said boredly, "Genta is off trying to sell sushi and Takeru is brooding elsewhere."

"You could always…" Ryuunosuke began, but was cut off by Chiaki.

"And don't even THINK of saying that I could train when something like this is so much more entertaining to watch." Chiaki said, grinning at a now thoroughly irritated Ryuunosuke. "Though, honestly, it isn't nearly as entertaining anymore since Kotoha isn't stepping on your feet as much."

Ryuunosuke decided to ignore that particular comment, especially when he saw the chagrined smile on Kotoha's face. Instead, he directed a comment to Kotoha that would surely upset Chiaki's plans to laugh at their expense anymore.

"Don't listen to him, Kotoha, keep NOT stepping on my toes just to spite him." Ryuunosuke said with a smile and twirled her before bringing her back in close. Kotoha smiled and giggled at the twirling motion.

"Okay, Ryuu-sensei." She answered, gamely.

Chiaki pouted and walked out of the room, leaving them and Mako in the room, but pretty soon after that Mako took her leave as well. The music stopped and the two separated.

"Good job, Kotoha." Ryuunosuke said, "I think you're ready."

"Thank you, Ryuu-san. Dancing is fun!" Kotoha said, smiling brightly in response.

_**That night...**_

It had been a full day for all concerned. Kotoha had 'graduated' from her lessons with a basic understanding of etiquette and a love of the waltz.

Most everyone had gone to sleep already, with Takeru and Kotoha being the only exceptions. Takeru was trying, but not succeeding in falling asleep. It had been that way the last few days. When he was successful, he had nightmares about recent events such as when Kotoha had nearly been taken away from them the day before her birthday, or nightmares about his father dying in fiery flames.

And then there were the other dreams where he would see Kotoha after she had come home from the mall a few days ago. Seeing her like that had made him realize something he'd tried to blind himself to and that was that Kotoha was a very pretty girl. He'd tried so hard to ignore that fact that the impact of seeing her made up was like being splashed with frigid cold water. It was startling.

_I'll continue to ignore it_, he thought as he looked up at the ceiling of his bedroom. A vision of her dark eyes in a deathly pale face flashed before his eyes and he knew it would be impossible and decided to amend the thought. _I'll ignore it for now. Once things are finished with Doukoku we'll see where things will lead._

His thought process was disrupted by the sound of one of the screens in another part of the mansion quietly sliding open and then closed and the sound of feet stepping out onto the back porch. Takeru got up from his futon and quietly made his way out of his quarters and onto the back porch.

It was cool out, but not cold enough that either of them would need a jacket and there was a soft breeze blowing. Takeru paused in the shadows and watched Kotoha, who was dressed in a pale yellow pajama set, as she put ear buds into her ears and pressed 'play' on her iPod. She began to waltz.

Kotoha waltzed by herself one hand clasped in her non-existent dance partner's grip, while the other was bent at the elbow with her palm down as if it were resting on someone's shoulder. Kotoha smiled and closed her eyes as she continued her midnight lesson.

Takeru smiled softly as he watched her go through the steps and realized then that the secret of Kotoha's success was that she had been practicing not only when she was with Ryuunosuke, but also by herself. Midway through a step, she stumbled and twisted her ankle at a bad angle. "Ouch!" she cried out softly, and stepped gingerly toward the back porch to sit down and look at the damage.

At seeing her stumble and hearing her soft cry Takeru stepped out from where he was watching and called out softly, "Kotoha, are you okay?" in a worried tone.

Hearing his voice, Kotoha startled and whipped her head to the side to watch him as he came to sit beside her. She blushed, embarrassed to be caught practicing by herself and because once again she was showing just how clumsy she tends to be.

"May I?" he asked motioning to her foot, that was even now still aching, though honestly, it was lessening by the moment. Kotoha nodded and Takeru gently took her foot into his callused hands and started prodding at the ankle with gentle fingers. She visibly winced as his fingers touched a sensitive spot on the ankle.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, having felt her tense up when he'd touched the spot on her ankle.

Kotoha smiled and shook her head, completely disregarding his apology. "It is okay, Tono-sama."

Takeru smiled fondly at the youngest Shinkenger and brought his hand to her head to ruffle her hair, which was an affectionate gesture that caused Kotoha's smile to brighten and brought a blush to her cheeks. Takeru's heart skipped a beat and he quickly pulled his hand back.

"You probably just twisted it and it'll feel better by tomorrow." Takeru cleared his throat, nervously, "good night, Kotoha."

With that, he stood up and went back to his room, leaving Kotoha to her own devices.

Once he was back in his room, he rested his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. Right or wrong, his decision was made for him.

He'd watched a few of her practices the past few days and now knowing that she was dedicating to herself to this even more, he had no choice but to dedicate himself as much as possible to helping her.

Opening his eyes, he stepped towards his futon and grabbed his shodophone to call Genta and tell him the change in plan. Genta answered pretty quickly with a sleepy, "Take-chan? Why are you calling so late?"

"Genta, can you pick up a butler's uniform for me? I'm going to be accompanying Kotoha." Takeru answered.

"eh? Why, Take-chan? Kotoha-chan will be fine. You'll see." Genta sounded instantly more alert.

"Because she is trying her best and I want to support her any way I can." Takeru answered honestly enough.

Genta was silent for a moment but then he said, "I understand. See you tomorrow, Take-chan," and hung up.

It wasn't very long after the conversation finished that Takeru was finally able to have a peaceful sleep.

**Authors note(s):** So…what'd you think of the chapter? Were the characterizations okay? I mean besides the fact that in this little fan fiction I have Takeru very much aware of his feelings toward Kotoha.

How'd you like the interactions between them, specifically Ryuu-baka and Mako-sama? I laughed while writing that part specifically because I could almost see it happening.

Also, originally I was going to have Takeru and Kotoha dance together near the end of the chapter instead of Kotoha hurting (not breaking) her ankle, but I decided not to go that route. After all, how would I have been able to explain his ability to waltz? I mean, does he even know how to dance? *laughs*

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. From here on out the fun really begins. What will the other's reactions be when they find out Takeru's plan? Stay tuned for the next chapter (hopefully coming sooner rather than later).

Oh, and as always, thank you for favoriting, following, and reviewing this story.

Veronica


	7. Chapter 7: Surprise!

Title: Lord Butler  
Author: Veronica  
Chapter Rating: G  
Spoilers: nothing  
Pairings: Takeru Shiba & Kotoha Hanaori

Summary: This is my version of episode 22 of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. Kotoha catches the eye of a young Bocchama and he asks Genta to ask her to pretend to be his fiancée in order to keep the gold-diggers away. Meanwhile, Doukoku unleashes a new monster that feeds on the affectionate feelings of its victims.

Chapter 7: Surprise! Our Tono-sama is a manservant?!

"Good evening, everyone!" Genta exclaimed enthusiastically as he showed up around four o'clock on the evening of the party at Yoshibou's mansion. He had a black garment bag tossed over one shoulder and a smile on his face.

"Hi, Gen-chan!" Chiaki said, with a smile as he looked up from the PSP that he was playing on before going back to his game.

Ryuunosuke looked at Chiaki with a disapproving frown before saying, "good afternoon, Genta-san." Noticing the garment bag slung over his shoulder, he eyed it curiously before asking, "What's in the bag?"

"Hello, Genta," Takeru said as he came into the room. He saw the garment bag and Genta grinned as he handed the mysterious garment bag over to Takeru. Takeru took the bag and headed back into his own room.

"How does she look?" Mako asked as she and Kotoha walked out of Kotoha's room and into the room where Genta, Ryuunosuke, and Chiaki were currently hanging out. When Kotoha stepped into the room all three of the guys looked her way.

They stared.

"Wow, Kotoha, you look beautiful!" Ryunosuke was the first to speak. He smiled at the blushing Shinken Yellow who was now decked out in a knee-length white dress with assorted teal and yellow designs on it and a cute pair of white strappy heels. Her dark hair, usually in pigtails or down, was up in a sophisticated bun.

"Thank you, Ryu-san." Kotoha replied.

"You look great, Kotoha!" Chiaki said, smiling genuinely at his best friend and closest teammate.

"Thank you, Chiaki," Kotoha beamed, glad to have her friend's support.

Before anyone else could say anything, a limousine pulled up outside, the engine being turned off and someone exiting the car to come to the door. A moment later, someone knocked on the door and Kotoha smiled once more at her friends and went to answer the door.

The man on the other side of the door bowed at the sight of Kotoha and motioned her to head out to the limousine. She nodded once and headed out to where the long, dark limousine was parked just a few feet ahead of her. A man dressed like a butler bowed as he opened the backdoor of the limousine for her to enter the vehicle.

When he straightened and their eyes met, Kotoha gasped in surprise.

"To-!" She began, but with one warning look from Takeru, she shut her mouth.

The others who followed her out, with the exception of Genta, were shocked as well. Genta just grinned delightedly at the sight of his best friend dressed as a butler.

"What the -?!" Chiaki began, only to be elbowed in the ribs by Mako. He grunted in surprise, and turned his head to glare at her. A moment later though he turned back to face forward and pulled out his cellphone to take a picture of Takeru helping Kotoha into the back of the limousine. Chiaki grinned, mischievously.

Mako leaned towards him and said, "I want a copy of that picture. Send it to me, will you?"

Chiaki only smiled more widely and nodded.

When Ryuunosuke saw what Chiaki was doing he frowned disapprovingly, though secretly he was just as amused-and confused-by the fact that Tono would take it on himself to go along with Kotoha as her manservant.

Once Kotoha was safely in the car and seated in front of Takeru, she asked the question that was plaguing her mind, "um, Tono-sama, why are you dressed like that?"

They were alone in the backseat of the limousine, so Kotoha felt that it would be okay to ask the question. Takeru gave her a slight smile and answered, "Genta thought it would ease your mind a little to have a familiar face in the crowd at this get together."

This, of course, was a lie, but Takeru didn't want to admit to her that he was concerned for her welfare. And sure, he could have asked Chiaki or Ryuunosuke to do this, but somehow he didn't want to leave this for anyone else to do. He chose to not analyze his reasons for this reluctance.

Kotoha nodded in acceptance of his answer and relaxed her grip on the hem of her skirt hem.

_This is going to be a long evening_, is what they were both unknowingly thinking at the same time.

Meanwhile, in the Sanzu River, Shitari and Dayu were trying to come up with a plan of attack that would succeed in overflowing the Sanzu River into the human world.

"Summer is difficult," Shitari stated, before continuing with, "it'd be something if we just let Doukoku's power continue to increase."

He turned away from Dayu and paced over to another corner of the ship.

"If we don't limit it, it might destroy this world and the human world, maybe even us as well. That's why we let Doukoku sleep." Shitari explained.

Standing near a port hole, Shitari heard a grunt as Urawadachi, a blue hammerhead shark looking ayakashi hefted himself through the porthole and onto the ship.

"I'm finally up! I want to slurp up human life soon!" Urawadachi exclaimed as he stood near Shitari.

He traipsed over to near where Dayu stood and with flamboyant hand gestures he said, "it is so sweet!"

"Urawadachi," said Shitari in a reproachful tone of voice, "I didn't summon you. You won't increase the river."

"That doesn't matter; I just slurp because I want to!" Urawadachi exclaimed, as he made is way over to where Shitari stood with his back to him. Having made his point, Urawadachi walked over to another part of the ship and away from Shitari and Dayu.

"See? Without Doukoku reigning things in, this happens," Shitari said, clearly exasperated. "Everyone just does want they want."

"Well, I suppose," Dayu said, unimpressed by Urawadachi's behavior as well.

"That reminds me," Shitari said as he came to stand near where she was now seated, "you've been pretty well behaved lately."

"Really?" she answered, in a casual tone of voice.

Doukoku may not have realized Juuzou saved you, but I did." Shitari stated. "However, I will pretend as if I don't know anything for now."

"Oh, I get it," Dayu said as she readied herself to play on her shamisen.

While Kotoha and Takeru were just stepping into the ballroom of Yoshibou's family home, the other Shinkengers, excluding Genta, were informing Jii-san of the plan, including the surprising addition of Takeru going with Kotoha as her manservant. Though they were saving that bit of information for last.

"The Matsumiya family?" asked Jii-san, as he paced the room in front of Ryuunosuke, Mako, and Chiaki. The three Shinkengers were sitting, well, in Mako's case, kneeling, and drinking tea as they watched Jii-san process the news of Kotoha's involvement in the plan.

"The Matsumiya's are famous plutocrats," he explained, as he continued pacing. He stopped pacing and asked, "Kotoha is going to say she's the fiancée for one of their noble sons?"

"According to Genta it seems the candidates for Obocchama's fiancées are ferocious," Mako responded.

"He's fed up with it, so he thought of announcing a fake betrothal," Chiaki put in.

"I see," said Jii-san, still looking somewhat thoughtful and more than a little confused as he asked, "But why Kotoha?"

"Oh, he met her at Gen-chan's cart one time," answered Chiaki.

Chiaki got a somewhat thoughtful look on his face and said quietly, "What if he was serious? But that couldn't be."

Chiaki shook his head, trying to convince himself as he said, "nope, nope, nope."

A flash of memory of Kotoha stepping out of her room and Mako asking them how Kotoha looked in the dress assaulted him. He shook his head to clear the image from his mind.

Kotoha was a precious friend to him; he didn't like the idea of not knowing what this guy's intentions were toward her…and the fact that if he were genuine that the guy would most likely convince Kotoha to stop being a Shinkenger and then where would that leave the team? Where would it leave his relationship with Kotoha? They couldn't exactly be friends like they once were if Kotoha married the guy. He shook the gloomy thoughts from his mind and concentrated on what Ryuunosuke was saying now.

"The problem was to make Kotoha seem like a fine lady," Ryuunosuke said, "I think we succeeded, but it is really all up to her now. Well, and I guess she'll have a better chance of that now that Tono is acting as her manservant. I'm still not sure how that came to pass though."

"What?! Our Tono is an attendant?!" Jii-san exclaimed.

"Yep, and I've got the picture to prove it," Chiaki said with a smile as he pulled out his shodophone to show off the picture to Jii-san.

"CHIAKI!" Jii-san barked, genuinely annoyed with Shinken Green.

Chiaki just grinned all the more.

**Author notes:** Happy belated New Year, everyone! I apologize for the delay in getting this story completed. Thank you for your continued patience. Hopefully this year will be the year that I complete this story, because frankly I have other ideas for other stories going around in my head but I want to complete this one first. Anyway, how'd you like the chapter? Were the characters in-character? How'd my fellow Takeru/Kotoha shippers like how I explained Chiaki's response to Kotoha being the fake fiancée? Personally, I thought it was a pretty good explanation, though not the only one I'll admit. How'd you like him taking a picture of Takeru dressed in butler clothing? *grins* He would so totally have done that if given the chance.

Next up…Kotoha and Takeru meet up with Genta, Takeru gets schooled in being a good manservant, and Yoshibou asks Kotoha for a dance? I'm already working on chapter eight, so hopefully it will come about better than this one did.

-Veronica


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